Koala campaigner backs call

TWEED'S koala defenders have welcomed a call from the NSW Department of Planning for the developers of the proposed Kings Forest township west of Casuarina Beach to provide far more information on environmental impacts of the project.

Spokesperson for Team Koala Jenny Hayes says she raised similar concerns in her submissions about the development to the department.

Leaked correspondence between the department and property billionaire Bob Ell, who heads the Leda development group, has revealed the department warned that without the further environmental information the proposed township may only get concept approval.

Such an approval would not provide certainty about the size of the township which the devel- opers hope may accommodate about 5000 homes.

Ms Hayes said she had “very similar concerns to the Department of Planning where the koalas are concerned”.

She had asked some of the same questions about the protection of areas of high-conservation value which developers were seeking to rezone.

Ms Hayes also applauded suggestions that the planned town centre should be re-located further west. “That is a very good idea, as I believe more of the koala habitat is on the eastern part of the site,” she said.

Ms Hayes said she wholeheartedly agreed that the developer's proposed Koala Plan of Management wasvery general and lacked details, including how a koala corridor would be maintained across a 33.4-metre-wide road.